Dhampirs Aren't Mindless
by The undiscovered Gypsie
Summary: AU, OOC. A Dhampir girl is forced to move to another country after the outbreak of war with the Strigoi. She must join mainstream American society, High School included. Here she finds romance; but also finds her family living closer to the battle field and some of the war's major players. Some normal characters will be included.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Starting a new school is difficult. But consider this, starting at a 'normal' school after years at a school for Moroi and Dhampirs.

With the Strigoi population rising, the Moroi and Dhampir population dying; there weren't many options for my family and I. You see, I'm a Dhampir, half human, half Moroi. I'm the dream fighting machine, trained since childhood to one day protect the Moroi; a race of 'good' vampires, they don't kill the humans they feed off, they also control magic.

With the vampire world in ruins, our schools closed for our safety, the royal Moroi going into hiding all over the globe; we had to leave. Had to hide ourselves.

That's why we left Australia. We had to leave whatever place had us on record.

I'm from a relatively small vampire population, mainly consisting of Dhampirs, with a handful of Moroi within our ranks. We lived just outside of Cairns, a tropical town in far north Queensland where Strigoi were extremely rare.

Now we are in Miami, another tropical city. This one is just one the other side of the world, and completely different to our home. I am here with my mother, a Dhampir who guards my father; an Ivashkov, one of the twelve royal Moroi families. My elder brothers Noah and Zac are unfortunately twins. However, fraternal. I am Mahalia, or as known by everyone except my mother, Mali. Just like the country.

Here we plan on becoming one with Miami's society. Meaning, my dad will continue his work as a lawyer, my mum as an artist, and us kids; we're going to high school. It's senior year for my brothers, while I'm still a junior.

Tomorrow is our first day at Southern Miami High, average students by day. And by night; Guardians in training, learning the best ways to kill Strigoi and save our Moroi.

**Chapter 1**

My alarm clock woke me with its incessant singing of Southern Sun by Boy and Bear. It quickly shut up when I threw it across the room to land in the heap of clothes by my wardrobe.

After crawling out of bed, stumbling into the bathroom, I quickly showered and mindlessly started my daily beauty routine. Cleanse, foundation, mascara, brush teeth, do hair. After deeming myself hella sexy, I practiced my saunter back into my bedroom.

In lasts nights 'new school anxiety' I had laid out todays outfit on my desk. Black converse, palm tree socks, favourite bra and pantie combo, blue jean shorts that my best friend, Sativa gave me. To quote, "If I give you my favourite jeans, we have to see each other again for you to return them". With which I completely agree. I finished my ensemble with a DIY tie-dye top.

Down stairs in the kitchen, dad is wearing his suit, his black hair slicked back, making his bright green eyes look even more intense than normal. Mum was wearing…. Something arty, with her blond wavy hair in an absolute mess of a bun on her head, her blue eyes were as bright as ever this morning. And my brothers. Well, Noah wore some form of hippie shorts with an 'Aussies do it better' tee. Judging from the drawing on the shirt, I had no confusion as to what 'it' was. Zac was wearing surfer shorts and a white tee. I wonder if he's going to enter a wet t-shirt contest? The boys couldn't have looked more different, Noah with shaggy blond dreadlocks down to his shoulders and green eyes. Zac had ear length black hair and mum's blue eyes. However, both of them had dad's 6'6 height but instead of being lean and pale like our Moroi father, they were tan and muscular.

I was a mix of my brothers, or, my mother reincarnated. The blond hair, blue eyes. Muscular like all Dhampirs, tan from living in Cairns, and also like my mother, I was the lovely height of 5'11. Making me tall for a girl, but nothing compared to Moroi.

Brekkie was on the table, I helped myself to the offered bacon and eggs. Then proceeded to eat them with vigor.

"Okay kids, I want you to scope out the school and the area, make yourselves comfortable in your new surroundings. Try to blend with all the social groups. We need to be able to sense if there are any other Moroi or Dhampirs in the area. Noah, don't be naughty, this school was the only one that would take you three so I can't have someone getting expelled." Mum was looking at Noah the entire time, Noah was the classic rebel, always doing what he shouldn't be, but most of the time he didn't get caught. "Zac, you need to keep an eye on your sister, she will be working alone in her year level while you and Noah have each other. This does not mean you need to punch any boy that asks her out!" Mum had moved on to Zac.

"But he was a Moroi just looki –" Zac began to defend his prior actions (punching the sex god like Jake Zeklos when he asked me out a year ago.) but mum cut him off.

"I know why you did it, you don't need to remind me. Zac I need you and Noah to join as many of the sports teams as possible between the two of you. Please remember to run a little slower, react slower. Just pretend you're human." The glares mum gave my brothers had them agreeing without a protest.

"Now, Mahalia." She turns to me. "You also need to join as many sport teams as possible. Work your magic, take advantage if being the new kid with an accent, make friends with everyone you can. Your brothers will help you when necessary, but there is something that you need to work on."

When your mother says anything close to this you naturally start to get scared. Does she know that I'm terrible at English?

"I heard on the grapevine that another Dhampir family has moved here from Australia. I think the son is in your year level, I need you to be on the lookout and then befriend him as quickly as possible. If I am correct; which I always am, his name should be Nikolai. He's from the Dhampir town out near Alice Springs."

Mum pulled us all in for a hug, kissing us all on the cheek, all the while shoving us out the door.

"But most importantly my little babies, have a beautiful day, and don't forget, you have training after school, so don't take too long!" She shouted at our backs.

Out front is my motorbike, Noah's pick up truck and Zac's Mustang. Really, the vehicles were communal, and we swapped around when needed, but 99% of the time? I had the bike. It was a glossy black, and I liked to think it matched my soul.

Southern Miami High, or as all the signs depicting it, SMH, was a large brick building uglier than sin. Out front was a lawn with trees spread evenly throughout. Students had already gathered in flocks around the grounds to have the first day reunions.

Noah parked his pick up next to the Mustang in the spots out front of the school, while I ripped to a screeching halt on the footpath by the bike racks.

I guess saying that everyone was looking at us wasn't an understatement, Zac and Noah were sitting on the hood of the pick up, and I looked like a juvenile delinquent.

"Mali," Zac drawled. "When are you going to learn to drive that beast like a lady?"

"When she becomes one!" Noah butted in.

I joined my brothers on the hood of the car as they laughed at their absolute wit.

"God I miss Cairns. I miss the beach, the forest. The markets, all of it."

"Mali, you hated working at the market for mum." Noah answered me.

"I know, but this is so… far from that, there are hardly any similarities." Over the past week, I had grown more and more home sick, just wanting to feel the humid heat; not unlike Miami's, but one that smelled of Aussie plants, sounded like the caw of the Kookaburras, that felt like the red dirt. Yeah I miss home.

"One day soon, we are going to go home." Zac grabbed my hand.

I leaned over to grab Noah's and finished Zac's sentiment. "All of us."

We sat there in quiet agreement for a moment more, until the bell rang and we moved away from the cars, towards the front doors. To a boy called Nikolai, a battle with Strigoi and ourselves.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

We swung by the office to pick up our time tables, mine was slightly average looking…

English

Calculus

French

Biology

LUNCH

Art

Gym

Russian

Food Science

I can't cook for shit. If not for the fact that my mum is a babe in the kitchen, I would be dead. Russian would be way to easy… my last name is Ivashkov after all. But the highlight of my day was Gym. One subject that I am genetically predisposed to excel in. I am the ultimate fighting machine after all.

However, Biology and French made me happy. French was the language taught at my school in Cairns, and Biology, well that I just love.

I walked further than the moon to find my English classroom, to stumble in to find the whole class looking at me with wide eyes.

"Mahalia?" A short, brunette teacher asked me.

I nodded in reply, still glancing around the room. Most of the other students were meeting my gaze. Except one. A built boy in the back row. While avoiding my stare, he was still managing to subtly survey the room.

Nikolai.

"Would you like to tell the class about yourself Mahalia Ivashkov?" The teacher asked.

I didn't really want to, but I thought that may be rude.

"Hey guys, I'm Mahalia but everyone calls me Mali. I've just moved here from northern Australia for my dad's job." I finished my well rehearsed speech with a huff, looking for the teacher for permission to sit. She took a form from me, signed it and gave me some books before dismissing me.

Walking down between the rows, I felt their glances move towards me, row by row. I didn't stop until I was standing next to the only available seat. Which happened to be next to Nikolai's. I squeezed a squiz at him while I was arranging my things at the table.

He was tall, I'm unsure how tall, but I know that he would be able to confidently stand next to my brothers. He had more bulk than either of my brothers, but he shared the Dhampir look that he had about him. He had blond hair, curls, waves and straight bits. Nice and long too, his lips were full and pink, his green eyes rimmed with long eyelashes.

Well holy shit. I think I'm in love!

To keep myself from throwing myself into his arms, I grabbed the Koala pen my friends had given me when they found that I; unlike them, was leaving the country. They all just scattered around the vast desert.

English here was different, The literature we had been assigned was completely foreign to me and I had a small struggle in understanding the accent as I waited for the teacher's attention to be sufficiently diverted.

Bingo.

"Nikolai?" I asked, quiet enough that the other students wouldn't hear me, but loud enough that his Dhampir hearing would clearly hear everything I said.

He looked at me with shock, well that was before he covered it with one of the best guardian masks I've seen.

"How?" His voice was deep and husky, straight to the point. His lips were slightly quirked though, a dimple showing. I want to lick it.

Hang on, what?

"I said how?" he repeated himself, probably about to get me tested for rabies based on the amount I was drooling.

"My mum, she heard about your family. Two Aussie Dhampir families in one suburb? Think about it." I defensively snarked him, hoping to seem composed.

"Well, how observant of you." He was sarcastic. We will be great friends. Hopefully more that little voice in my head says to me.

We continue talking after that, he tells me how his family had to leave their Dhampircommune Alice Springs, a large town in the center of Australia because of some Moroi that turned Strigoi to 'save' himself. This coward later told the other Strigoi the location of the previously unmapped town.

NIk, as he had me calling him, was actually quite funny, I found myself forgetting that we had only known each other for a short time. We had many bands in common and it helped that his cousin is my best friend… I know, we were tripping balls when we found that out. Nik, his mum and two older sisters are living just a street away from my family.

I was nervous about leaving to go to calc. until I looked at his timetable to find that he was with me for every lesson except Gym where we were divided by gender.

As we were strolling through the halls, I saw Noah and Zac approaching from the opposite direction.

"Mali!" They both yelled out.

Shame was that their accents caused everyone to look at us and listen for more strange speaking.

"Hello boys." I said that loud enough for the gossip channels to run, but then continued at a Dhampir volume. "Meet Nikolai, we have all our classes together."

The boys all nodded at each other, Noah and Zac both giving him a glare that said, 'stay away' as they protectively slung their arms over my shoulders. Luckily for us juniors, the bell for second period rung, and we were able to escape the ever so scary seniors.

"What just happened?" Nikolai's entire face showed confusion.

"My brothers, Noah and Zac, they're seniors." I looked ahead, embarrassed by the boys.

"Do you all have the same dad?" Unfortunately, it was all too common in Dhampir culture for siblings to be of mixed parentage, our Moroi parents – most likely men, hardly ever stuck around.

"We are. Strangely enough, our parents are married." That there was a huge surprise for Nikolai.

"Whoa, you're one of those real families that are starting to occur in the community. I haven't seen my dad since he came to see me for the first and only time when I was 10. He wanted me to train to be his other son's guardian!" We were nearing the classroom, but some of what Nik said made me need to ask a very prickly question.

"Who is your dad?" I blurted. Its poor manners to ask a Dhampir who their dad is, since most likely they just used out mothers for a quick romp.

"Alexandr Dragomir." Nik was curt, every syllable sharp.

Nik was a Dragomir, the smallest royal line. There's only about ten of them, Moroi members that is. They never count the Dhampir family members.

"Sorry, I know I overstepped my line." Nikolai just gave out a short, yet strained laugh.

"Don't worry about it, but it is only fair if I get to ask; who's your father?"

"He's an Ivashkov…" I began, my father was actually an extremely important member of Moroi society. "His name is Sergei."

"What! You mean the Queen's son!" Nik was shocked, I didn't blame him. Marrying a Dhampir to a Moroi would be like a normal human man marrying a prostitute. "That makes you the Queen's granddaughter!"

He was pretty surprised to say the least.

The morning's classes passed in a blur of get to know you conversation. When lunch came, I took Nikolai to where I had planned to meet my brothers. As planned I found them in the cafeteria, surrounded by their new friends. If there's one thing I can say about the twins, it's that they can make friends really easily.

They were with a bunch of jocks, all smaller than my brothers, who were actually shorter than Nik who stood at the almost impossible height of around 6'8. He truly is a monster. There were trays all over the table piled high with food that was currently been inhaled by the two hungry Dhampirs at the table.

It wasn't until Nik and I sat down across from them, me banging my tray did they look and notice us. Noah of course tried to start talking with his mouth full, failing terribly when he started choking; needing a new friend to smash him on the back.

Zac beat Noah to the point however.

"The Russian teacher! She's Moroi!"

Well this stuffed things up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"What do you mean she's Moroi?!" I screamed back at my brother.

For some weird reason the cafeteria became quiet, everyone looking at us, most likely wondering what we just said.

"Don't just yell it Mals. Make a Facebook update about it." Nik sassed me.

"We need to meet elsewhere after school, we need to talk, openly, without the constraints that we currently have." Said Noah, gesturing around at the still staring Americans. He then proceeded to make a scene, with him, Zac and the new wolf in the pack, Nik. They were joking around, purposefully making their accents thicker, so no one could understand them. I understand what they're doing, making the others think they didn't hear us right; instead of us saying a word that to the average person, means absolutely nothing. They're running around like headless chooks, I couldn't stop myself from laughing at them.

Art passed in the usual pace for any art class, calmly. As an artist's daughter, I guess that I had some talent; most of it was just the background knowledge. We were painting and I decided to do a traditional Aboriginal painting. Growing up near the towns of Indigenous people, I saw plenty of their amazing art, the kangaroos, koalas and turtles.

Gym passed as it was expected to, well mostly so.

My uniform was given out, and we were sent into the change rooms to squeeze ourselves into these tiny black spandex shorts and a white tee with SMH on it.

It's safe to say, I look like a stripper. I was met by a few whistles and second glances by the boys when I walked out of the changing rooms with the rest of the girls; some of which I had begun to befriend. I don't know why, but seeing Nik there, while I was practically naked made me want to sink into the desert around Uluru. And I only met the guy today!

Hell even he gave me a saucy little wink; I returned it, as he so deserved that piece of love. He is sex on legs.

We were doing something classic, run as far as you can in an hour gym class. I don't know why they bothered separating boys and girls on the timetable because we were all running together on the track.

It was easy; Nik and I set a pace together; slightly faster than any of our other classmates. Hell, it was hilarious listening to them complain. I joked to Nik how I had to run around the Daintree rainforest for my running program, to which he joked that his was around the desert in Alice Springs.

By the end of however long we ran, my blond hair was sticking to the nape of my neck and forehead. Nikolai had put his hair into a man bun for the gym session so I could see small curls stuck to his neck.

Yum.

I had to quickly shower and get changed to get to Russian on time, mainly so I could suss out the Moroi teacher.

As the Moroi race, and therefore the Dhampir race goes back to Eastern Europe; Russia, Romania and Ukraine, generally all of us could speak at least basic parts of these languages. But in my favour I spoke fluent Russian as my father was born in Russia; it didn't help that the Queen demanded that her Dhampir grandchildren be even more intelligent than her other Moroi family to help make up for our lowness of species. Queen Tatiana, or Babushka as some would think, was a difficult woman to understand, she could be very harsh and strict; never failing to remind my brothers and I that we were unequal to our cousins, but she also had this way of being oddly kind.

She wasn't the grandmother who was obvious about it, but she spoiled us like crazy. When my parents wouldn't let me have a motorbike, one appeared on the front lawn, with an envelope containing the keys and my name on it.

The teacher was absent when we arrived, taking a seat in the back row, so we could observe easier before we made a move to approach her.

"Nik, I was thinking." I started.

"Oh Jesus help us, this never ends well!" His eyes were twinkling with mischief as he said this, making me swoon even more. Mahalia Zoya, don't you dare fall off your chair!

"Ha ha. Oh your wit renders me speechless. Anyway, I don't think we should show how well we speak Russian, you know, try to hide our half-Moroiness from her?" A moment of pure genious from me.

"Mals, all she needs to do is look at our last names, Dragomir and Ivashkov are some of the most prestigious names someone like us can have." Nik smiled at me. "We would have a higher chance of successfully persuading her that we were horses."

Shame that I forgot how much our last names are almost Iconic of the Moroi culture

Now, when you speak of the devil, the devil shall appear. This phrase is proven by a willowy Moroi sweeping into the classroom in a cloud of, "Sorry I'm late."

What she was lacking in a Russian accent, she made up for with by being extremely pale, tall and skinny – all serious Moroi traits. She started calling out the class list, doing a visible double take before choking out. "N-Nikolai D-D-Dragomir-r?"

Since the boy in question is an insufferable pain in the ass, he only grinned and yelled out "Present!"

The teacher was so flustered she literally stared at the sheet of paper in her hands for god only knows how long before continuing.

This started again when she got to the 'I' section of the list.

"Mahalia Ivashkov?" she sounded more scared by the prospect of me, one of the many Ivashkovs in the Moroi world then she did by having one of the rare Dragomirs in her class.

"Yes." I was classier than Nik, but still had a shit-eating smile on my face.

The entire lesson, Ms Zharova, avoided even breathing in the direction of the two Dhampirs sitting in the back of her classroom, rushing through topics that I knew from experience needed time and TLC.

When the bell finally rang, she dismissed the class, Nik and I as previously agreed, took our sweet time in getting out of the classroom.

"You two better not bring any unwanted attention to the area. I have been here for plenty of time alone and I haven't had any trouble." The fanged, and honestly, weak woman spat at us.

"At least we are capable of defending ourselves, we don't need to enslave a race of people just to keep ourselves from dying." Nikolai was definitely not happy. Recently, Dhampirs having been stepping away from the Moroi system in large numbers, we were treated as second rate citizens, yet were still expected to put our lives on the line for people we cared nothing more for money just above minimum wage.

By stepping away from the system, the Moroi had to take their safety into their own hands, and the previously strong Court system we had shattered as our population scattered to the far and obscure corners of the globe.

Apparently there was still at least one Moroi who thought we owed them a life debt.

"More numbers of us will make it easier for the Strigoi to notice us!" She was becoming unhinged. I needed to stop the blowout from happening, from the potential threat of our secret becoming known.

"You have no need to worry, there are four Dhampirs in my household, and four in his. Easily enough to keep anything bad from happening." I said this making calming gestures.

"How many of you are there at this school?"

Nikolai answered for me. "Five. Mali and her two brothers who are seniors, then my sister who is also a senior and myself." His sister surprised me; he hadn't told me that she was at the school.

"Well I am here alone, no one else is around this area that I know of. Now you two get to class before you bring attention to us." She was already less hostile towards Nik and I.

I met Nik's sister, Rhea in Food Science, because of budget cuts, some subjects had mixed classes; meaning I was blessed with the company of the twins. She was standing talking to my brothers by some of the benches. On the board was a notice for us to partner up and stand by a bench with aprons on.

Noah decided that his desired partner was Nikolai; I could see this going badly already. Zac ran off to be with some giggling cheerleader who was batting her eyes at my brother. I was left to Rhea, who I quickly found to be witty and funny.

As cooking is not apart of any Dhampir's education, the two full-Dhampir pairs suffered miserably when asked to make meatloaf. They were extremely burnt, but once the burnt parts were forcibly removed, actually edible. The same cannot be said for Zac and his interesting choice for a partner. It wasn't even cooked.

"Well how am I supposed to know when the oven's turned on? I have only ever been trained to kill –" Zac had defended himself, almost going into dangerous territory before Noah hit him with a wooden spoon.

Rhea impressed me more when she condescendingly told him. "There's a light in the oven, it turns on. And there's more! It even dings when the temperature is right!"

The two continued to banter until we were dismissed for the day.

I dropped my stuff into my locker before heading out to where we had parked the cars, the other four of my kind were already standing around.

"So nice of you to join us," Noah started.

"We've decided to all meet up at our house, to talk plans and stuff." Zac finished the sentence for Noah.

"Our mum is meeting us there, we're going to talk rotations and everything." Rhea was much more serious than my idiot twin brothers.

I loved them more than life, they really were some of my favourite people, but there were times that I just wanted to roundhouse kick some sense into them.

We all split into our vehicles, arriving at my parent's 10 acre property. Having acreage was useful; we had full privacy, could train without neighbours being nosy, and not to mention that we could better protect our home.

My parents were sitting in the kitchen with a beautiful blond woman, who resembled Nik and Rhea so much that I had no doubts who her children were.

"Darlings!" my mother greeted us, in her paint splattered clothing, she looked almost defenseless, but I knew better, under her dress; if you looked that is, but please stop looking up my mother's skirt; you would see a silver stake, something perfect for killing Strigoi strapped to her thigh.

"I want you to meet Viktoria, she has some news for us but she wanted to wait until everyone was present."

"Hey." Her accent was stronger than mine, she out Australianed me. "I have seen in some recent reconnaissance that there is a Dhampir Strike team living in a house nearby."

We all took several moments to process what she just said. A strike team; a newly developed idea involving a group of Dhampirs that band together with the sole purposes of tracking and killing strigoi.

The problem with this is; these teams stay in areas of a high Strigoi population. For them to be here…

The Strigoi must be here too.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Shit."

"Far out broussel sprout."

"Hit me don't shit me!"

This was just my brothers and I. Nikolai and Rhea were possibly worse, but it was our parents who truly shocked us. My mother, who was born in a Swedish Dhampir commune, was swearing profusely in Swedish. My father, a typical Moroi, lost composure in Russian.

Meanwhile, Viktoria just sat there, looking at the clock on the wall. Before adding,

"Children, I think it's best if you left the room now. I want you to be armed at all times; and for now, while the grown ups talk, can you all patrol the grounds?"

"That's a great idea!" Despite her words, my mum didn't look al that impressed, in fact her face showed her fight for composure.

The five teenagers walked through the house, away from the kitchen and towards the stairs that would take them to the second and third levels of the house. To reach the basement you must use the stairs in the kitchen, the stairs that are very well hidden that is.

Once on the third floor landing' where the sibling's rooms were located, they separated, Rhea and Mali going into Mali's room to dress for patrol. They would wear black, nondescript clothing that didn't restrict their movements. Australian Dhampirs had found that leather protected them the most while still allowing for movement. Nikolai followed Noah to borrow some of his clothing while Zac, the eldest of all the Ivashkov children, watched his younger brother and sister walk away with worry.

"How do I protect them?" Sighing heavily, the first Ivashkov strode to his room to change into his fighting blacks.

**Nikolai POV**

Noah led me to his room, quickly giving me a pair of leather pants and a leather sleeveless top.

"Do you need boots?" I shook my head; I kept my steel-toed boots in my car. "Stake?" Again, I shook my head. I lifted my white t-shirt, showing the stake tucked into the waistband of my jeans.

"Well aren't you a big boy, all organized?" Noah enjoyed giving me shit, in cooking class; he hadn't stopped commenting on something or rather.

I used his ensuite to get changed, when I opened the door, I saw Zac and Noah waiting for me. The former was leaning against the closed door, arms crossed across his chest. The latter was strapping a stake to his upper leg.

"We see how you look at our sister." Noah said, shocking me with a change from his seemingly constant, happy-go-lucky persona. For the first time since I'd met the laid back, dreadlocked boy, I saw the deadly weapon that he was trained to be.

Damn it! I thought I was being subtle about my appreciation of that girl.

"You better be careful. We'd hate to have to be the cause that Viktoria mourned her son."

"Or that you'd be forever childless." Noah followed Zac.

Their expressions showed me how serious these boys were. And judging by their glares, they absolutely meant every menacing word.

"Nothing will happen to her. I swear." I was cupping my balls as I said this.

"Good, because we're going to hold you to it."

With that the twins walked out of the room.

As I joined the other fighters on the landing, still keeping my hands close to my junk, I was blown away.

Mahalia Ivashkov. In skintight leather. Those legs went on forever; they were slender but muscled from years of training. The pants did nothing to hide the curve of her hips or that round ass. Now I'm covering my junk for a different reason.

The top showed her tiny waist, which led to large, full breasts.

Easily a D cup I thought to myself.

Her waist length blond hair was up in a high ponytail, leaving platinum wisps framing her face.

That face. Arched brows, long eyelashes and just the slightest blush that was forever on her cheeks.

She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen; the school halls were full of gossip about the new girl. The other boys at lunch had their eyes freely roaming over her body.

Of course they were met with sharp glares from either one of her brothers or myself.

Even without the warning, I knew I would make sure that nothing happened to her.

"Let's go already, we need to get out there sooner rather than later, the sun's setting." Mali's husky yet smooth voice brought me out of my perverted state of mind.

The twins immediately started running down the stairs, pushing and shoving as they went, back to their normal selves with no sign of their previous mood. I could here them thundering down to the kitchen. My sister Rhea, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, gave me a look of exasperation as she followed them down.

Then there were two. What an absolute shame.

"Sooo." Mals was looking everywhere but my face. Is she looking at my crotch? Pride surged through me.

"I think we should hang out some time." I wanted her, and I get what I want.

Mahalia POV

Nikolai's voice brought me from my visual exploration of his groin. I looked up, shocked, into his eyes. He so caught me.

Strong Mali, maneater Mali!

"My bedroom's just down the hall if that suits your fancy?" I didn't actually mean it, but for this god in front of me, I would.

No Mahalia! You are a strong, independent, smart and damn sexy woman. You will make him crawl before you even beg. Ohhh but that dimple!

"While that sounds excellent, I think we should take a step back. How about we patrol together? I'll ask you your favourite colour, you'll proceed by blushing and saying the colour of my eyes." He was smirking at me, his tone smug.

"Actually, I love gold. As in first place gold." Yes Mahalia, don't be caught out swooning.

"Don't be like that, you know you love my eyes."

Oh I do love your eyes, if only you knew how much.

"Woah there Nikolai, you're starting to sound like my cousin Adrian."

"Thanks Mali, that's what every man wants. Next time compare me to a lamp will you?"

"What? Where did that come from?!" I was freaking, he seems more and more similar to my crazy, permanently drunk, spirit-wielding cousin.

"You family zoned me! That's worse than calling me cute and sending me to the friend zone!"

Nikolai seemed quite distraught, so he did like me.

"Patrol can be our first date. Make it good, or you won't get a second date."

"Huh?" at first he was hella confused. But then I think his boy brain helped him out. "Now now Mahalia." The way my name sounded coming from his lips sent shivers down my spine. "There is no way that you would ever deny me a second date." He was stepping closer to me, until our bodies were touching. He used his thumb to tap my chin; silently telling me he wanted to see my face.

He finally stopped when I looked into his eyes, after a couple seconds, I felt his face coming closer. And he wasn't the only one doing the moving, his lips were quickly approaching mine.

His lips were soft and firm, his hand on my back was strong and hot. The hand cupping my face was gentle and scorching.

As we molded together, I felt his silver stake digging into me, I reached down with my hand, most definitely not breaking the kiss. I started to try to push the stake away when Nik broke away, amusement on his face.

"Bit quick to be getting into my pants Miss Mahalia."

"No! I was just moving your stake to the side!"

Nik just raised an eyebrow at me, and pointed to his leg… where his stake was strapped on.

"Oh my god! But it was huge! And so hard! Are you sure?"

Nikolai promptly pissed himself; and I almost killed myself when I realized I actually said that.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh –"

A now composed Nikolai interrupted me by placing a finger on my lips.

"shhh. I'm flattered I really am, but I assure you, that's ALL me."

He wasn't smiling after I gave him a 'love' nudge on the 'all him' area.

"Cocky ass."

"Don't bring my cock into this, leave my ass alone too." What an insufferable ass! But the smile on his face; it was absolutely adorable, I couldn't possibly be mad at him.

"Oh Nikolai, I meant the adjective, not your actual dick."

"I hate to interrupt, but why is my darling daughter talking to a boy about his anatomy?"

My father stood just at the top of the stairs, his face wiped of emotion as though he were standing in the courtroom gazing at the defendant at a murder trial. But then, maybe he was. He didn't seem overly impressed about my reference to Nikolai's dick.

He held his hand out to Nik, "Sergei Ivashkov." Nikolai shook his hand, embarrassed. "I know who you are Nikolai Dragomir; the only son of Alexandr Dragomir and Viktoria Ivanova."

"I'm so sorry sir, it was all my fault!" Nikolai rushed to apologise, still shaking my dad's hand.

"Relax, I like dhampirs, it's the Moroi that have the real assholes." My dad chuckled at his own joke, his grin showing my father's fangs. "Come here son, I got something to share with you."

My dad whispered into Nik's ear, something I couldn't here, something that made Nik blanche.

"Of course Lord Ivashkov."

Was all that was choked out by my new man friend.

God damn the men in my family, always threatening my boy toys. Being the Queen's son and the Queen's favourite grandsons – who also happen to have the ability to kick ass; make for some very effective threats.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N : **Hola Chicos!Again, unsure if anyone will be reading this but… I have recently edited and changed minor, non life changing details in the previous chapters.

Also, I'm sorry for the weird updating; the past year has been filled with exams, stress eating and I have been backpacking around South America and Europe for the past five months and will not be going home until September- where I intend on actually getting this fanfic going!

Disclaimer: Obviously Richelle Mead's idea and, I have used a line from Chris Lilley's 'Ja'mie, Private School Girl'.

**Chapter 5**

Nik was understandably quiet as we walked down the stairs and out the house.

Even quieter as he began walking over to his car.

Hang on, is he leaving?! Why is it that the good ones never stand up to any pressure?

"And where is it that you are going?'

My voice must've given something about my current thoughts away to Nikolai, as he turned to me with a small grin.

"To get my boots out of my car." His grin grew in size to show his dimple, "Of course though, only, if it is okay with you?"

I let out a shaky, relieved laugh, "Run along boy, I will wait for you here."

There I go, always letting my assumptions run ahead of me. This pattern of thought is becoming too common, too… intrusive. I am broken out of my ponderings by a certain dimpled boy calling out to me.

"Oh and Mahalia? Enjoy looking at my arse as I walk away." He looked back at me as he said it, the easy smile on his face lifting my mood from the darkened place it was in.

And I did watch his arse as he walked away; I especially appreciated it when he squatted just a little to reach his shoes in the back seat of his car. The movements caused his shirt to be pulled taut, making it possible for me to see the muscles in his back and shoulders to ripple in that delicious, panty-wetting way, and as the muscles in his legs flexed, his pants were stretched across that glorious derriere and his legs.

I've never given thought to a man's legs before, never seen them as attractive. But now? I'm feeling a bit flushed.

Unfortunately, I was still flushed when Nikolai joined me again; and also unfortunate, he noticed my change in complexion, which he acknowledged with a sly wink.

Together, we walked almost in sync to where my brothers and Rhea were standing with another girl, around the same age as Rhea.

I was halted by Nikolai grabbing ahold of my arm.

"The girl with Rhea? That's my eldest sister Maria; I need to tell you now that she won't speak to you. Not because she doesn't want to but because she can't, a Strigoi destroyed her vocal cords a couple years ago when she was bitten. " I gasped, the horror of such an atrocity previously unfathomable. "But she can hear you just fine, so please, talk to her normally. As you would to me, knowing that I would respond to you with words." Nicolai's eyes held mine captive, his gaze serious and pleading.

"Of course I would Nik!" I hugged him, without even thinking I just wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed my face into his chest. I was surprised that he didn't hesitate to immediately return the gesture; and I was even more surprised at the lack of sexuality in the act, just pure comfort. "But…" I began, turning my head to meet his gaze, "I won't be talking to her as I talk to you…" Nikolai's expression changed at the first part of my sentence, it became completely bare, showing nothing and caused me to pause. "Because there is no way in hell, that I will ever talk to your sister about what's going on in your pants or about how we can take it back to my room."

Nikolai let out a laugh at this. A real laugh, it held relief and actual amusement within it.

"Come on you, we need to go over to the others; we need to strategise how we are going to patrol the area." While his words didn't hold much room for lightness, his tone and stance did.

My brothers and his sisters looked up as we walked up to them, laughter in our steps.

Very quickly, I could see that Rhea and Zac were leading this meeting, or was Rhea just acting as Maria's mouthpiece?

My speculation turned out to be right as Maria made hand signs to Rhea before Rhea addressed me.

"My sister, Maria says Hello to you, and that she hopes you will excuse her from properly talking to you now, and will let her talk to you later when we are not so rushed." While Rhea said this, Maria smiled at me, which I tentatively returned.

Zac cleared his throat before continuing our brief tactics meeting.

"Nik, Mali, you two will be working together. We have placed you in the copse of trees here." At this he gestured to a small patch of green that appeared to be situated in-between the houses of the two Dhampir families.

Nik and I nodded at each other, unsurprised with our pairing. Noah and Zac, as twins, seemed to have an uncanny knack for knowing exactly where the other was, and what the other is thinking without any verbal communication. This made them an obvious patrol pair, as their little 'twin bond' made them deadly against Strigoi with their silent efficiency and the way they could support each other perfectly.

I was also expecting Maria and Rhea to be paired together; Maria couldn't communicate to me which would make us vulnerable and Rhea I don't know as well as I do know her brother – knowing something about the way your patrol partner thinks, acts and reacts is critical for a successful pairing.

After waving goodbye to Rhea and Maria, I briefly hugged the twins, because no matter how good they are, I know that there is always a chance that I would never see one of them again. Zac's hug was longer than Noah's and I knew why. Sensitive Zac; everyone believes Noah is the softy out of the two but in reality it is Zac, who masks his sensitivity with his protectiveness for his two younger siblings.

Walking away from the twins with a weary heart, I place the speaker Nikolai hands me into my ear. All six of us would have one, letting us speak to each other (Nikolai informed me that Maria will clap into hers in the event of an ambush or when help is needed and will click into it if she is ever taken or… about to die). It is an absolute certainty that someone in the house has one as well; back up is never to be frowned upon!

The copse of trees Nikolai and I are to spend the next six hours in is pleasant; the flowers are nice, and the entire setting is very cutesy. We scout our designated section quickly, to become familiar with out surroundings; holes etc. before settling into a slower walk through the track that we will change each loop to prevent predictability.

Scanning the area for anything, the sun sets early in the tropics, so the risk and danger is very present and pressing.

After a couple minutes, a gentle hum of conversation starts between us, it isn't flowing but stopping and starting with the topics changing, free of any awkward pauses but instead, silences that say something to us, that speak of more than what we say, that speak of what we are doing and who we are.

This same thing continues for the next three hours. I find out that unlike many of the Moroi/Dhampir population who are Eastern Orthodox, Nikolai does not practice any religion. I also learn that while he has had to focus his energy and time on the physical side of learning; new fighting techniques and the like, he has a preference for tinkering with things.

"Fixing things, cars, doors, my sister's wardrobe. I like to be occupied; mind and hands, and I definitely prefer work that doesn't come with the stress of our occupation." A light shone in his eyes as he spoke of fixing things, as he spoke of what he enjoyed he moved his hands animatedly, gesturing here and there.

I tell him of my dreams to travel and see the world. I also tell him of my fear that I will never know what it is that I really want to do.

"I have no idea. Absolutely none. I hear of Guardians who just want to guard. Or my mum, who does art; my dad who argues for money. I can't think of anything like that for me. I am envious of you; you know what you want to do, even if you have to do the Guardian thing as well, you have your passion. Me? I can't say the same." I looked away before finishing. "I'm scared that I will spend my life Guarding and never find what job it was that I would've done if I had been born with the opportunity to choose."

"Stop." Nik grabbed my shoulders, keeping me still. "Don't think like that. We are only seventeen; you have plenty of time to explore. Try being a waitress. Then a barista, bartender and so on." He huffed, "Try to find it before it's too late; we live a life of danger and our time could be over in an hour. So search for it. Maria's was singing; she'd actually left the Dhampir life to pursue fame. And she had it in her grasp until she was attacked." Nikolai shook me gently, "And you know what? She has no regrets, She went for it, and she did it. Yeah! Of course she was sad. But now? She is more than happy, voiceless and all."

After he finished, we walked silently for half an hour; me thinking about what he had told me; and him giving me the time to think about what I needed to do.

"I want to go home. I don't want a big life, full of glory and gore. I just want to live on the beach, have a family and a house." I looked at him from the corner of my eye. "That's not a dream Nikolai."

He gave a bark of a laugh before responding.

"Yes it is! Dreams can look like Maria's fame or like Rhea, who wants to be a Librarian. You have your dream; fight for it."

It was with this appropriate sentiment that a silhouette came to a standstill in front of us, causing us to rip our stakes from their respective positions.

"Georgia?" I gasped, semi-frozen, heart thundering away in my chest.

"It's me Mali." My school friend replied.

The only problem was, my friend had pale skin and red rings around her eyes.


End file.
